A King, A Child And A Monk
A king from 300 years ago, a child from a third world country and a monk all met at an airport. The tour guide showed them the place. They were amazed at all the beautiful lights, clothes, and escalators and machinery that they saw. They went to a grocery store and tons of fruits and vegetables were presented to them. They were like “What the hell is this sh*t!!! Mountains of foods!!” Then they went to a fast food place and ordered food. They were so amazed at how fast the food was given to them. They were like, “this must be heaven. A paradise here on Earth. Everyone in this place must be really happy to live here.” The king said, “these people lived like kings of kings.”
Then they saw two people arguing and quarreling at a distance. The child asked the tour guide, “why are there unhappy people in paradise?” The tour guide said, “it is because they cannot see.”
*Ok, so the story goes something like that. I don’t exactly remember. I filled in some of the gaps lol. The people cannot see that they are in paradise.
So Part 1 of this series is the Path of Materialism. Part 2 is present moment. Part 3 is the bonus. Part 4 is silence. Part 5 which is a study of our emotions.
Your Path To Materialism
In the future, I’m going to be really happy when I get a lover, or a car, or a house, or that promotion that I have been seeking. I will never be sad ever again. I’ll just sacrifice my life right now so that I can be happy forever. Right now, is terrible, the future is better.
Second Story
In New York, in order to get out of Brooklyn so I can hike upstate, I have to go through Manhattan. It is cheaper and less tolls that way. In order to get out of Manhattan, you have to spend like an hour or more in a horrendous traffic during the weekdays. I was thinking where are these people going? They are blowing their horns, yelling at each other, people in my app are commenting how the traffic was not caused by anyone and that people are just idiots. A lot of name calling and etc. These people are going to their jobs, or maybe away from the traffic or out of Manhattan. They do not want to be in that traffic.
Why is the traffic so miserable? Even for me, I was getting irritated. All the people in the traffic are trying to go to the next moment. They all want to be in any moment as long as they are not in that moment. I asked myself, what is so wrong with this moment? If I am not in this moment, I will be walking in the woods with a very hot sun or sitting at the top of a mountain. I am sitting in a car and I am very comfortable physically. So there is really nothing wrong with the present moment if I compare it to what I am going to do in the future. Physically, they are the same. Walking in the heat is actually not as enjoyable as sitting in an air conditioned car if I think about it. I have music in the car too. So the suffering is happening in the mind and not physically. It is really hatred of the present moment. Our minds are conditioned to hate the present moment and that we have to find happiness in the future.
The Unconscious Mind Pattern
Always seeking the next moment while sacrificing right now. “The next moment will be better, the next moment will have happiness. Right now? Right now is miserable, it is better to get to the next moment as soon as possible.” This program in the mind is always looking for the next moment to satisfy itself but that next moment never comes because there is only one moment which is “now”. If your mind projects to the next moment, it will always project to the next moment over and over.
When a person wakes up in the morning, “this is what I have to do for work later. I’ll do this and this so that I don’t get fired.” While taking a shower, “going to be another miserable and hectic day at work today.” While driving a car, “I better get to work as soon as possible but these stupid drivers are in my way and so slow.” While working, “I can’t wait to go home. I’ll watch prepare this food that is my favorite.” While eating the food, “I better get to sleep so that I can wake up early and work tomorrow.”
The mind projects itself to the future constantly. It is either trying to prevent some future scenario that is very fearful or trying to find happiness in the future. It does not want to stay in the present moment.
So when you are in the path of materialism, your self-esteem and self-image is based on the material things that you acquire and you hope that these objects will fulfill you. So the mind often goes to the future because it believes that the future is where salvation lives. When I get this girl or promotion then I will be happy. This puts a lot of worry and burden to the mind and body.
What If Nothing Changes For 1 Year
What if nothing changes in your life for one year? You will have the same health, same money, same objects and etc. You are not going to lose or gain anything. That most likely sounds good, at least for me. You don’t have to worry about losing your car, house, health and so on. You are going to be provided for. You have one whole year where it is guaranteed that you have a lot of food, enough cash, and a place to sleep in. I’m not going to get any new objects but at least I don’t have to worry about anything. All of the weight and burden disappears. Maybe you can get new objects the second year but for the first year, you don’t need to change your life at all.
Your life isn’t that bad. It is actually really good. You have food, you have shelter, you have everything you need to survive. If nothing changes for one year then life is good.
If You Focus On The Present Moment
If you focus on the present moment, then it is pretty good as well. You have food, shelter, money, and so on. Right now, is pretty good. Right now, you are healthy and have everything you need to survive. If you focus on the future, you will only see worry, pain and disaster but if you focus on right now, then it is pretty good.
The mind thinks it can predict a wonderful future or prevent a disastrous future based on past experiences but in reality, it cannot predict the future at all. So the mind focuses on a future scenario that does not exist and may never exist.
All that we can ever have is right now or the present moment. The future is imaginary, the past is gone, and all we have is right now. We can only live in the present moment. We can only feel emotions on the present moment.
So why are you always projecting your mind to the future?
Need More Time To Complete Myself
There is this unconscious mind pattern that we need more time to complete ourselves. Need more time to complete the story of me. “Look at my story and how amazing my story is. This is the story of my life, it is so amazing.” I’m going to write an autobiography and it is going to be filled with amazing things about my life. All of my achievements and shortcomings and people are going to think that I’m so cool.
The past only exists in the mind, the future only exists in the mind, and we only have the present moment. So you cannot really say that I have a life. You cannot really own your life, it is not something you can own. It is just an illusion of the mind that you have a life story. In reality, there is only the present moment which means that the life story only exists in the mind. It is more fitting to say that you are life. Life is you. Life is now.
Does that make sense or too deep lol?
Rejection Of The Present Moment
We have this program in the mind or unconscious mind pattern that we need to complete ourselves in order to be happy. We need to get cars, houses, family, and so on, before we can be happy. The path of materialism that I talked about before. No, I don’t want right now because I’m not complete yet. I need to be complete then I can be happy. Right now, I don’t have a car so I cannot be happy. Right now, I don’t have the promotion I want so I cannot be happy. Right now, I don’t have a lover so I cannot be happy.
So the mind projects to the future in order to be happy. When I get a girlfriend, car, house, more money then I will be complete and be happy. The next moment will have all that I want. Right now, I am miserable because I do not have any of these objects. Right now needs to be sacrificed so that the future me will be happy.
Of course, the future, never comes because there is no future. It is always the present moment. When you arrived at that future moment that you wanted, you find out that it has ups and downs as well. So you continually project to the future to find that everlasting happiness but it will never happen because the future does not exists. It is imaginary.
When You Focus On The Present Moment
When you focus on the present moment, you are provided for. There is abundance, and well being in the present moment. You cannot see that because when you project to the future, you can only see lack. I lack this object or something to make me happy. In the present moment, you have everything you need to survive.
People That Find Out They Have Limited Time To Live
People have this unconscious mind pattern of seeking joy in the next moment. They keep sacrificing the present moment to find joy in the next one. I have to get the car next year, I have to get a promotion next year, I have to get these objects to make me happy. Then the Doctor says, you only have 6 months to live.
You may think that this will put people in the most depressing state. But in reality, for some people, they find the present moment in such conditions. They no longer have anything to do. All the work that they need to do, things they need to accomplish, and so on, are gone. They slow down or completely stop chasing the future. They go walk around the park and think that is nice. Go to bed and sleep late, and think that is nice. They enjoy life more. They live in the present more instead of some imaginary future that is in the mind.
The Salvation That You Seek
The salvation or complete happiness that you seek can only be found in the present moment. In the present moment, you are taken cared of, provided, complete, and satisfied. It cannot be found in some magical future scenario that only exists in the mind.